Systems and methods for detecting a slip, trip or fall

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are apparatuses and methods for detecting a slip, trip or fall event in an environment and sending an alert of the event. An implementation may comprise detecting, in image frames captured by a camera, when an object enters a region of interest, tracking movements of the object, and determining that the object is in a fall-zone. The fall-zone may be specified by a set of line segments, each line segment being defined by points that lie in the region of interest. The implementation may further comprise, when the object is in the fall-zone, recording the position of the object, detecting a slip, trip or fall event when the object transitions from a first position above a predetermined height threshold to a second position below the predetermined height threshold, a pose of the object indicates that the object is lying down, or the object transitions from a vertical to horizontal pose, and sending the alert.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The described aspects relate to security systems that comprise objectdetection features to detect a slip, trip or fall.

BACKGROUND

Conventional systems often fail to provide timely detection and timelyrecognition of the seriousness of a slip, trip or fall event. Thus,alerts may be delayed, may not be recognized by security personnel asbeing emergencies, etc. Accordingly, there exists a need forimprovements in such vision systems with detections of slips, trips orfalls.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects inorder to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary isnot an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intendedto neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nordelineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is topresent some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to vision systemsthat may be used for intervention when a potential injury event occurs,and more particularly to detection of slips, trips, or falls of objects.

An example implementation includes a method for detecting a slip, tripor fall event and sending an alert of the event, the method comprising:detecting, in a plurality of image frames captured by a camera, when anobject enters a region of interest; tracking movements of the object inthe region of interest using the plurality of image frames; determiningthat the object is in a fall-zone based on the tracking of the movement,the fall-zone being specified by a set of line segments, each linesegment being defined by points that lie in the region of interest; andwhen the object is in the fall-zone, recording the position of theobject, detecting a slip, trip or fall event when at least one of thefollowing events occurs: the object transitioned from a first positionabove a predetermined height threshold to a second position below thepredetermined height threshold, a pose of the object indicates that theobject is lying down, and the object transitioned from a vertical poseto a horizontal pose, and sending an alert of the detected slip, trip orfall event to one or more user devices of one or more predeterminedrecipients of the alert.

Another example implementation includes an apparatus for detecting aslip, trip or fall event and sending an alert of the event, comprising amemory storing instructions and a processor communicatively coupled withthe memory and configured to execute the instructions. The processorexecutes the instructions to detect, in a plurality of image framescaptured by a camera, when an object enters a region of interest; trackmovements of the object in the region of interest using the plurality ofimage frames; determine that the object is in a fall-zone based on thetracking of the movement, the fall-zone being specified by a set of linesegments, each line segment being defined by points that lie in theregion of interest; and when the object is in the fall-zone, record theposition of the object, detect a slip, trip or fall event when at leastone of the following events occurs: the object transitions from a firstposition above a predetermined height threshold to a second positionbelow the predetermined height threshold, a pose of the object indicatesthat the object is lying down, and the object transitions from avertical pose to a horizontal pose, and send an alert of the detectedslip, trip or fall event to one or more user devices of one or morepredetermined recipients of the alert.

Another example implementation includes an apparatus for detecting aslip, trip or fall event and sending an alert of the event, comprisingmeans for detecting, in a plurality of image frames captured by acamera, when an object enters a region of interest. The apparatusfurther includes means for tracking movements of the object in theregion of interest using the plurality of image frames. The apparatusfurther includes means for determining that the object is in a fall-zonebased on the tracking of the movement, the fall-zone being specified bya set of line segments, each line segment being defined by points thatlie in the region of interest. The apparatus further includes means for,when the object is in the fall-zone, recording the position of theobject. The apparatus further includes means for detecting a slip, tripor fall event when at least one of the following events occurs: theobject transitioned from a first position above a predetermined heightthreshold to a second position below the predetermined height threshold,a pose of the object indicates that the object is lying down, and theobject transitioned from a vertical pose to a horizontal pose. Theapparatus further includes means for sending an alert of the detectedslip, trip or fall event to one or more user devices of one or morepredetermined recipients of the alert.

Another example implementation includes a computer-readable medium(e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium) for detecting a slip,trip or fall event and sending an alert of the event, executable by aprocessor to detect, in a plurality of image frames captured by acamera, when an object enters a region of interest, and track movementsof the object in the region of interest using the plurality of imageframes. The instructions are further executable to determine that theobject is in a fall-zone based on the tracking of the movement, thefall-zone being specified by a set of line segments, each line segmentbeing defined by points that lie in the region of interest. Theinstructions are further executable to, when the object is in thefall-zone, record the position of the object, detect a slip, trip orfall event when at least one of the following events occurs: the objecttransitions from a first position above a predetermined height thresholdto a second position below the predetermined height threshold, a pose ofthe object indicates that the object is lying down, and the objecttransitions from a vertical pose to a horizontal pose. The instructionsare further executable to send an alert of the detected slip, trip orfall event to one or more user devices of one or more predeterminedrecipients of the alert.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate one or more example aspects ofthe present disclosure and, together with the detailed description,serve to explain their principles and implementations.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system for detecting a slip, trip or fallevent, in accordance with exemplary aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing device for detecting a slip,trip or fall event, in accordance with exemplary aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example of a fall-zone and objects in thefall-zone, in accordance with exemplary aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of person in a first pose within the fall-zone andpersons 302-305 outside the fall-zone, in accordance with exemplaryaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a person in a second pose in the fall-zone, inaccordance with exemplary aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a person in a third pose in the fall-zone, inaccordance with exemplary aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an example 3D model of a person suitable for determining thepre-defined portion of the person, in accordance with exemplary aspectsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a person in various positions, in accordance withexemplary aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a fall-zone, in accordance withexemplary aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method for detecting a slip, tripor fall event, in accordance with exemplary aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of an implementation of system for detecting aslip, trip or fall event via an edge device, in accordance withexemplary aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is another flowchart illustrating a method for detecting a slip,trip or fall event, in accordance with exemplary aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of an example of a path for sending an alert froman edge device to other systems, in accordance with exemplary aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of an example of an annotation of a fall-zone via ause-camera parameter, in accordance with exemplary aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 15 is an example illustrating a payload, in accordance withexemplary aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects are now described with reference to the drawings. In thefollowing description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofone or more aspects. It may be evident, however, that such aspect(s) maybe practiced without these specific details.

Vision systems may be used to detect objects in an environment and trackthe objects within a region of interest. In some implementations, forexample, vision systems may include object detection and trackingcapabilities. For instance, in some cases, the object may be a person,and the object tracking may be used for determining when a person slips,trips or falls. Detection of slips, trips and falls is important forfields such as security, injury prevention, reduction of financialliability, reduction of damage to reputation of an institution, etc. Forexample, a user of a security system may be interested in knowing whenpeople enter and exit a region of interest. A camera (such as anInternet Protocol (IP) camera) may be used to monitor the region ofinterest, track people as they traverse in and out of the region ofinterest, and detect when a person may have slipped, tripped or fallen.If an event occurs within an area being monitored, timely interventionmay assist in reducing injury, liability, etc.

The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods that detect aslip, trip or fall event and send an alert to one or more user devicesof one or more predetermined recipients. The fall-zone comprises aheight threshold or a set of line segments with each line segment beingdefined by points that lie in a region of interest. A slip, trip or fallevent is defined as an event in which the object or a predefined portionof the object is below the height threshold or at least one of the linesegments of the fall-zone. For instance, the slip, trip, or fall eventmay be an event in which a person or a portion of the person, e.g., thehead of the person, is below the height threshold or at least one of theline segments in the fall-zone. In one aspect, the method is based on afall-zone predetermined by a user and annotated accordingly via a userinterface, e.g., a graphical user interface (GUI) being used for settingup the vision system, e.g., a surveillance system used to monitor anenvironment. Then, the vision system monitors the fall-zone to determinewhen an object, e.g., a person, enters the fall-zone and slips, trips,or falls. When any slip, trip, or a fall is detected, the method sendsan alert to one or more user devices of one or more predeterminedrecipients. For example, a store may have a vision system including anynumber of cameras for monitoring different parts of the store. For eachcamera, the region of interest may be the full frame that can becaptured by the camera. A particular area within the region of interestmay be annotated as the fall-zone, as described below in conjunctionwith FIG. 3 . For instance, the fall-zone for a given camera may beannotated to include entrances/exits to the store, near an area wherewater may be expected to be present during rain, and so on. If acustomer slips, trips or falls in the fall-zone, the security personnelmay then be notified, e.g., via an alert (e.g., an email or textmessage) sent to a cell phone, server, etc.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system 100 for detecting a slip, trip or fallevent. The system comprises a camera 110 (e.g., an internet protocol(IP) camera), a slip, trip or fall event detector 120, and an alertrecipient 130 (e.g., a server, user device). The communication betweenthe slip, trip or fall event detector 120 and the user device associatedwith the predetermined recipient may be performed via a communicationnetwork (Internet, 4G/5G network, enterprise network, or any otherstandard network). The slip, trip or fall event detector 120 may beimplemented as a module of the IP camera 110 or on another device (e.g.,server) communicatively coupled to the IP camera 110 for receiving videostreams from the IP camera 110. The video stream includes a plurality ofvideo frames. For example, the IP camera may capture 30 frames persecond. Then, for each second, the video stream includes the 30 capturedvideo frames.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing device 200 for detecting aslip, trip or fall event. For example, the slip, trip or fall eventdetector 120 may be implemented in an edge device 210. In one aspect,the edge device 210 may be part of the camera or can be separate fromthe camera. In another aspect, the components of the edge device 210 canbe in a server. The edge device 210 may include a configurationcomponent 231 for configuring a fall-zone within a region of interest, adetector of objects 232, a detector of any number of pre-determinedportions of the object 233, a correlator 234 for correlating portions ofobjects with respective objects, an estimator 235 for estimating posesof objects, a tracker 236 for tracking objects and their respectivepre-determined portions, and an analyzer 237 for performing analysis ontracked objects to determine when a slip, trip or fall event is detectedand sending an alert.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example 300 of a fall-zone and objects in thefall-zone. The fall-zone may comprise a height threshold or a set ofline segments, each line segment being defined by points that lie in aregion of interest. The fall-zone may be annotated using a setupGraphical User Interface (GUI). The height threshold or the set of linesegments is chosen such that when a portion of an object dips below theheight threshold or the at least one of the line segments, an alert isgenerated and sent to one or more user devices of one or morepredetermined recipients. In one example, the region of interest may bea full-frame, or a partial-frame as viewed by the camera (e.g., an IPcamera). The fall-zone is annotated by a user, using the GUI, within theregion of interest. Further details of the alert and fall-zone aredescribed in conjunction with FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 .

FIG. 3 further includes persons 301, 302, 303, 304 and 305. Person 301is shown within the fall-zone (which includes line segments 380 and 381)and persons 302-305 outside the fall-zone. FIG. 3 further includesvarious objects throughout the region of interest, e.g., objects 6, 8and 9 which are located on walls above the height thresholds 380 or 381.The objects 6, 8 and 9 are not tracked for the purpose of detectingslips, trips and falls. However, the person 301 is residing below theheight threshold 381 and is to be tracked. A tracking software may beused to identify objects and track the images of the objects using aplurality of captured video frames. For clarity, the boxes 10 around theobjects indicate people identified within a frame. The box 7 indicates aportion of person 301 and box 3 indicates a portion of person 302. Asmentioned above, person 301 is to be tracked. In one aspect, the box 7(e.g., around the head of person 301) is also tracked. FIG. 4 -FIG. 6are used below to illustrate the tracking of the person 301.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of person 301 in a first pose within the fall-zoneand persons 302-305 outside the fall-zone. The person 301 is moving inthe fall-zone from an area near the line segment 380 towards the areanear the line segment 381. Therefore, the person 301 is to be tracked ashe moves in the region of interest until he exits the fall-zone. FIG. 5is a diagram that illustrates a person 301 in a second pose in thefall-zone. For example, with the box 7 being below the line 381. FIG. 6is another diagram that illustrates a person 301 in a third pose in thefall-zone. In this case, the box 7 is near the ground, even furtherbelow the line 381. In order to detect when a slip, trip or fall eventoccurs, various portions of the person may be tracked and adetermination may be made as to the pose of the person. The pose may bedetermined using any type of standard model known in the art.

It is notable that the portion of the person to be tracked may be chosenby the user. In one example, the user may select the boxes 7 and 10 tobe the same, i.e., the portion is the entire person. In another example,the box 7 is placed around the head. Then, the position of the head maybe tracked separately by the tracking software.

FIG. 7 is an example 3D model of a person suitable for determining thepre-defined portion of the person. For example, the 3D model may be usedto identify the pre-define portions of person 301 of FIG. 3 . That is,3D model is provided such that points and line segments are used toillustrate portions of the person 301. FIG. 7 includes a bottom torso700, left hip 701, left knee 702, left foot 703, right hip 704, rightknee 705, right foot 706, center torso 707, upper torso 708, neck base709, center head 710, right shoulder 711, right elbow 712, right hand713, left shoulder 714, left elbow 715, and left hand 716. Thus,portions of the body are represented as dots and interconnectionsbetween the various portions of the body are shown as line segments.This 3D model is used to determine the pose of a person fordifferentiating between slip, trip, fall events and intentional changesof pose (e.g., to tie shoes), as described below.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of person 301 in various positions. Using the 3Dmodel of FIG. 7 , when the person is standing vertically, as shown in801, the center head 710 is above the neck base 709. When the person islying down, as shown in 802, the center head 710 is below the neck base709. Moreover, the other portions of the body are about the samedistance from the ground. When the person is bending, as shown in 803,the right shoulder 711, right elbow 712, right hand 713, left shoulder714, left elbow 715 and left hand 716 positions and left hip 701, leftknee 702, left foot 703, right hip 704, right knee 705 right foot 706positions are at about the same distance from the ground and make aspecific pose indicative of the person intentionally bending down.Similarly, when the person is bending to tie their shoes, as shown in804, the relationship of the various portions is indicative ofintentional bending. For example, a person in the fall-zone may simplybend down to pick up an object, tie shoes, etc. These scenarios are usedto identify a person who fell, slipped or fallen, e.g., 802. In oneaspect, a learning algorithm may be used to improve the accuracy of theslip, trip or fall event detection. Therefore, the detector of thepresent disclosure is configured to detect the slip, trip or fall eventusing the 3D model to differentiate between scenarios in which theperson intentionally changes his/her position and scenarios in which theperson changes his/her position due to a slip, a trip or a fall. Thepose of the person is used to determine whether or not the person hasslipped, tripped or fallen. When the person has slipped, tripped orfallen, an alert is generated and sent to user devices of one or morerecipients. For example, the predetermined recipient may includesecurity personnel.

FIG. 9 is an example diagram 900 illustrating a fall-zone beingdesignated. FIG. 14 is a diagram of an example 1400 of an annotation ofthe fall-zone via a use-camera parameter. The first two values shown inFIG. 14 , e.g., 1280 and 720, are the width of the frame and height ofthe frame, respectively, used to plot the fall-zone of FIG. 9 . Then,the 2D coordinate values of end points of each of the line segments islisted. For the example of FIG. 9 , there are two line segments 901 and902. The first point is (188, 219), the second point is (542, 300), andthe third point is (807, 171). The first line segment 901 connects thefirst point and the second point. The second line segment 902 connectsthe second point and the third point.

In some aspects, the fall-zone may be predetermined by a user, e.g.,security personnel. The detector of the slip, trip or fall event mayreceive the defined fall-zone in a manual or automated manner. Forexample, a use-camera command line parameter may be used to provide thelist of values to the detector.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1000 for detecting a slip,trip or fall event. In one aspect, referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 10 , inoperation, computing device 200 may perform method 1000 for detecting aslip, trip or fall event by processor 201 and/or memory 202. In oneaspect, the slip, trip or fall event detector is implemented in a camera(e.g., an IP camera) or a device, e.g., an edge device, communicativelycoupled with the IP camera.

At block 1010, the method 1000 detects an object in a region ofinterest. The region of interest may be the entire frame being capturedby the camera or a portion of the frame, as set by the user. The objectmay be detected using an object detection software as known in the artand executed by the processor 201.

At block 1020, the method 1000 tracks the object, e.g., using an objecttracking software. For example, as the object moves within the region ofinterest, the method tracks the object by comparing images of the objectin a plurality of frames. The software for detecting and tracking theobject may be implemented together or separately in different componentsof the IP camera or by the edge device communicatively coupled with theIP camera. Moreover, the tracking of the object may be performed by theprocessor 201, e.g., executing tracking software as known in the art.

At block 1030, the method 1000 determines whether or not the object isin a fall-zone. The fall-zone is specified by a height threshold or aset of line segments, with each line segment being defined by pointsthat lie in the region of interest. The object is in the fall-zone, whenthe image of the object (or a certain portion of the object) in theframe intersects any portion of at least one of the line segments of thefall-zone. When the object is in the fall-zone, the method proceeds toblock 1040. Otherwise, the method proceeds to block 1020 to continuetracking the object.

At block 1040, when the object is in the fall-zone, the method 1000records the position of the object.

At block 1050, the method 1000 determines whether or not the objecttransitioned from a position above a predetermined height threshold to aposition below the predetermined height threshold. When no transition isdetected, the method continues monitoring the position of the object todetermine if such transition occurs. When the object transitioned fromthe position above the predetermined height threshold to the positionbelow the predetermined height threshold, the method proceeds to block1060. In one aspect, the transitioning between positions may be detectedby analyzing which portions of the person are above the height thresholdwhen the person is upright verses which portions of the person are abovethe height threshold when the person has slipped, tripped, or fallen.

At block 1060, the method 1000 obtains a pose of the object. Forexample, the method obtains a pose of the object to determine whether ornot the pose indicates that the object is standing, bent, lying down,etc.

At block 1070, the method 1000 determines whether or not the object islying down. When the object is lying down, the method proceeds to block1080.

At block 1080, the method 1000 sends an alert to one or more userdevices of one or more predetermined recipients. The alert indicatesthat a potential slip, trip or fall event is detected. The alert may besent as a text, email, etc. When the object is determined to not belying down, no alert is sent and the method returns to block 1010. Theslip, trip or fall event detection may use a learning algorithm toimprove the accuracy of the detection.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of an implementation of system 1100 for detecting aslip, trip or fall event via an edge device. The detection algorithm isimplemented in the edge device 1110. The IP camera 1120 sends videoframes 1125 to the edge device 1110. The edge device 1110 includes anobject detector 1130, a pre-defined portion detector 1140, a correlator1150, a pose estimator 1160, and a tracker 1170. For example, the objectmay be a person, e.g., 301, and the pre-defined portion may be the headof the person, e.g., center head 710 of FIG. 7 . Thus, the detector 1130is used to detect the person and detector 1140 is used to detect thehead of the person. Then, the correlator 1150 is used to correlate theperson and the respective head. The correlation of the person and therespective head may be based on collecting person objects 1180 and headobjects 1190. The pose estimator 1160 is used to estimate the pose ofthe person and the tracker 1170 is used to track the person and the headas the person moves in the region of interest.

The information gathered from various portions of the edge device 1110is fed to a fall detection algorithm 1195. The detection of the slip,trip or fall event is then based on the positions of the object and thepre-defined portion.

FIG. 12 is another flowchart illustrating an alternative method 1200 fordetecting a slip, trip or fall event. In one aspect, referring to FIG. 2and FIG. 12 , in operation, computing device 200 may perform method 1200for detecting a slip, trip or fall event by processor 201 and/or memory202. In one aspect, the slip, trip or fall event detector is implementedin a camera (e.g., an IP camera) or a device, e.g., an edge device,communicatively coupled with the IP camera.

At block 1210, the method 1200 determines whether or not an object thatentered a region of interest is in a fall-zone. The tracking of theobject may be performed using any known tracking software as known inthe art and executed by the processor 201.

The fall-zone is specified by a height threshold or a set of linesegments, with each line segment being defined by points that lie in theregion of interest. The object is in the fall-zone, when the image ofthe object in the frame intersects any portion of at least one of theline segments of the fall-zone. When the object is in the fall-zone, themethod proceeds to block 1215 to record the position of the object.Otherwise, the method proceeds to block 1260.

At block 1215, method 1200 records the position of the object andproceeds to step 1220.

At block 1220, method 1200 determines whether or not the objecttransitioned from a position above a predetermined height threshold to aposition below the predetermined height threshold. The predeterminedheight threshold is defined for the fall-zone by the user. For example,the predetermined height threshold may be set as being a given heightabove ground. In FIG. 3 , assuming an average height of an adult, lines380 and 381 may be 1-2 feet above ground. Thus, the predetermined heightthreshold would then be the height as set by the user. When the objectdid not transition from the position above the predetermined heightthreshold to the position below the predetermined height threshold, themethod proceed to block 1230. Otherwise, method proceed to block 1250.

At block 1230, method 1200 obtains a pose of the object and determineswhether or not the pose indicates that the object is lying down. Forexample, if the object is a person, the positon of the head of theperson in relation with positions of other portions of the person may beused to ascertain whether or not the person is standing up, sittingdown, lying down, etc. When the pose indicates the object is lying down,the method proceeds to block 1250. Otherwise, the method proceeds toblock 1240.

At block 1240, method 1200 determines whether the object transitionedfrom a vertical pose to a horizontal pose. The transitioning may beidentified by comparing the images of the object in the plurality offrames captured by the camera. When the object transitioned from avertical pose to a horizontal pose, the method proceeds to block 1250.Otherwise, the method proceeds to block 1260.

At block 1250, the method detects a slip, trip or fall event and sendsan alert. The slip, trip or fall event detection may use a learningalgorithm to improve the accuracy of the detection.

At block 1260, the method indicates no slip, trip or fall event isdetected. The method then returns to step 1210.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of an example 1300 of a path for sending an alertfrom an edge device to other systems. The edge device 1110, as shown inFIG. 11 , may send the alert to various other systems via a cloudnetwork 1310. In one aspect, the alert may be sent in Hypertext TransferProtocol Secure (HTTPS) or Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT)format. The other systems to which the alerts are sent may comprisesystems of personnel performing actions based on the received alert. Forinstance, the alert listeners (personnel) may include listenersreceiving text messages, sound alarms, displays on PVM, etc. Therefore,various types of end point devices may receive the alerts in variousformats. As described above, the method of the present disclosure relieson a definition of a fall-zone. The fall-zone may be annotated by a uservia a GUI interface.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of an example 1400 of an annotation of a fall-zonevia a use-camera parameter. The fall zone definition includes width ofthe configuration image, height of configuration image, number of pointsin the region of interest, and, for each point, a corresponding (x, y)coordinate within the region of interest. In one aspect, the alertincludes a payload. The payload is posted to upper level stacks thattake the information, parse as needed, and/or take actions.

FIG. 15 is an example illustrating a payload. The payload of FIG. 15includes at least an identity of the IP camera, the event type, time,etc.

While the foregoing disclosure discusses illustrative aspects and/orembodiments, it should be noted that various changes and modificationscould be made herein without departing from the scope of the describedaspects and/or embodiments as defined by the appended claims.Furthermore, although elements of the described aspects and/orembodiments may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural iscontemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.Additionally, all or a portion of any aspect and/or embodiment may beutilized with all or a portion of any other aspect and/or embodiment,unless stated otherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vision system, comprising: a camera forcapturing a plurality of image frames; a memory; and a processorcommunicatively coupled with the memory and configured to: detect, inthe plurality of image frames captured by the camera, when an objectenters a region of interest; track movements of the object in the regionof interest by comparing images of the object in the plurality of imageframes; determine that the object is in a fall-zone based on thetracking of the movement, the fall-zone being specified by a set of linesegments, each line segment being defined by points that lie in theregion of interest; and when the object is in the fall-zone, record theposition of the object, detect a slip, trip or fall event when at leastone of the following events occurs: the object transitioned from a firstposition above a predetermined height threshold to a second positionbelow the predetermined height threshold, a pose of the object indicatesthat the object is lying down, and the object transitioned from avertical pose to a horizontal pose, and send an alert of the detectedslip, trip or fall event to one or more user devices of one or morepredetermined recipients of the alert.
 2. The vision system of claim 1,wherein the transitioning of the object from the first position abovethe predetermined height threshold to the second position below thepredetermined height threshold comprises a predefined portion of theobject falling below at least one of the line segments of the fall-zone;and wherein whether or not the pose of the object indicates that theobject is lying down and whether or not the object transitioned from avertical pose to the horizontal pose are determined based on trackingthe movements of the object and movements of at least one portion of theobject.
 3. The vision system of claim 2, wherein, when the object is aperson, the predefined portion of the object comprises a head of theperson.
 4. The vision system of claim 1, wherein the object isdetermined as being in the fall-zone when the image of the object in theframe intersects any portion of at least one of the line segments of thefall-zone.
 5. The vision system of claim 1, the processor being furtherconfigured to: receive a command from a user of the vision system, thecommand being for annotating the fall-zone.
 6. The vision system ofclaim 5, wherein the user issues the command for annotating thefall-zone via a graphical user interface.
 7. The vision system of claim1, wherein the region of interest comprises: a full frame as viewed bythe camera, or a portion of the full frame preselected by the user ofthe vision system.
 8. The vision system of claim 1, wherein the alert ofthe slip, trip or fall event comprises a payload directed to anothersystem, the payload including at least an identity of the camera, thetype of event, and a time of the event.
 9. The vision system of claim 1,wherein the alert of the slip, trip or fall event is sent in anHypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) or Message Queue TelemetryTransport (MQTT) format via a cloud network.
 10. The vision system ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more user devices of the one or morepredetermined recipients of the alert comprises at least one of: an endpoint device of a user or a server.
 11. The vision system of claim 1,the processor being further configured to: store, in the memory, atleast one of: a type of the slip, trip or fall event, a location of theslip, trip or fall event within the fall-zone, a timestamp of the slip,trip or fall event, and the plurality of image frames captured during apredetermined capture period of the slip, trip or fall event.
 12. Thevision system of claim 11, wherein the predetermined capture period ofthe slip, trip or fall event is set by a user of the vision system,where the predetermined capture period specifies at least a time periodprior to the slip, trip or fall event.
 13. A method for detecting aslip, trip or fall event by a vision system, comprising: detecting, in aplurality of image frames captured by a camera, when an object enters aregion of interest; tracking movements of the object in the region ofinterest by comparing images of the object in the plurality of imageframes; determining that the object is in a fall-zone based on thetracking of the movement, the fall-zone being specified by a set of linesegments, each line segment being defined by points that lie in theregion of interest; and when the object is in the fall-zone, recordingthe position of the object, detecting a slip, trip or fall event when atleast one of the following events occurs: the object transitioned from afirst position above a predetermined height threshold to a secondposition below the predetermined height threshold, a pose of the objectindicates that the object is lying down, and the object transitionedfrom a vertical pose to a horizontal pose, and sending an alert of thedetected slip, trip or fall event to one or more user devices of one ormore predetermined recipients of the alert.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein the transitioning of the object from the first position abovethe predetermined height threshold to the second position below thepredetermined height threshold comprises a predefined portion of theobject falling below at least one of the line segments of the fall-zone;and wherein whether or not the pose of the object indicates that theobject is lying down and whether or not the object transitioned from avertical pose to the horizontal pose are determined based on trackingthe movements of the object and movements of at least one portion of theobject.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein, when the object is aperson, the predefined portion of the object comprises a head of theperson.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the object is determined asbeing in the fall-zone when the image of the object in the frameintersects any portion of at least one of the line segments of thefall-zone.
 17. The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving acommand from a user of the vision system, the command being forannotating the fall-zone, wherein the user issues the command via agraphical user interface.
 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the alertof the slip, trip or fall event comprises a payload directed to anothersystem, the payload including at least an identity of the camera, thetype of event, and a time of the event.
 19. The method of claim 13,wherein the one or more user devices of the one or more predeterminedrecipients of the alert comprise at least one of: an end point device ofa user or a server.
 20. A computer-readable medium storing instructions,for use by a vision system for detecting a slip, trip or fall event inan environment, executable by a processor to perform a method of claim13.